Tom Bowen

The NCAA released the latest Academic Progress Rate scores — here’s the database — and the results for the Bay Area schools are mixed.

Stanford maintained its top-tier performance, Cal slipped and San Jose State soared: SJSU did nearly as well on the single-year score as Stanford.

Before we get to the scores, a few notes:

* The beauty of the APR is that it measures retention and eligibility. Schools get rewarded for keeping players in school and on track to graduate. The worst-case scenario is a player who drops out while ineligible.

* The multi-year scores below are for the 2007-08 thru 2010-11 school years, with the single-year score for 2010-11.

* Teams are penalized — they can be docked scholarships and, in extreme cases, banned from the postseason — for substandard performances over the course of time.

* A perfect score is 1,000. Trouble starts when you are below 925 (although the bar is being raised to 930 on a phased-in basis).

The scores …

*** Stanford posted a 977 multi-year score and 985 single-year score — both terrific and typical for the Cardinal, which has never posted a multi-year score below 976.

*** 2:45 p.m. update: Here’s a revised, expanded version of the initial story, including comments from MWC/SJSU officials and details on some of the finances involved …

San Jose State’s long, desperate climb into the Mountain West Conference became official Friday. The Spartans will move into their new, more luxurious home in the summer of 2013.

“Events like today are tremendously important markers of affirmation of the kind of potential San Jose State has,’’ university president Mohammad Qayoumi said. “There’s also deeper sense of motivation.’’

San Jose State will pay the Mountain West a $2 million entrance fee, according to sources. No state money will be used; the amount can be paid over time and, if necessary, withheld from future revenue distributions by the league office.

The Mountain West will have 10 football-playing members in 2013: San Jose State, Utah State, Fresno State, Nevada, Nevada-Las Vegas, Hawaii, Colorado State, Wyoming, Air Force and New Mexico.

I’d expect news on the Mountain West-Conference USA merger/alliance in the next 10 days. All signs continue to indicate the leagues will form a scheduling and television alliance … and that the Mountain West will, in fact, expand its membership. But nobody should take anything for granted.

Action: San Jose State begins search to replace outgoing athletic director Tom Bowen.Reaction I: It’s going to take months, but there’s no reason we can’t address a few fundamentals and even a few names.Reaction II: Seems to me that Spartans should consider candidates who 1) understand the university (or, at the very least, have worked in the Cal State system), 2) understand football in general or Spartan football in particular and 3) are proven fundraisers. Being a slam dunk in two categories could offset shortcomings in the third.Reaction III: Four names that come instantly to my mind … Two have been mentioned on the Hotline in the past 24 hours: current SJSU deputy directors of athletics Marie Tuite, the COO who is serving as the interim AD — and working diligently to get SJSU into the Mountain West, by the way — and John Poch, the Spartans’ chief fundraiser (although I haven’t been able to confirm that Poch is, in fact, interested in replacing Bowen) … If I’m SJSU, I’d also consider Vince Otoupol, a former Stanford football player and San Jose State fundraiser who’s now the AD at Cal State Monterey Bay … I’d also look at Mark Harlan, who was Bowen’s top lieutenant in the early (brutally difficult) days at SJSU. He has experience in radio/TV negotiations and fundraising (at Arizona and UCLA). Whether the Spartans could lure Harlan away from Westwood if he’s interested — and if SJSU is interested — I don’t know.

4:05 p.m. update: The news story below has been updated with comments from SJSU president Mohammad Qayoumi and football coach Mike MacIntyre.

*** 1:55 p.m. update: The Spartans are expected to name Marie Tuite as interim AD, according to sources. Tuite has been the department’s deputy director/COO for the past two years. She’s more than qualified to run the department on a permanent basis. One issue for Spartan fans to watch in the wake of Bowen’s departure is the future of co-deputy AD John Poch, who oversees fundraising. With Tuite and Poch at the top of the org chart, the Spartans would be able to maintain the financial, academic and on-field momentum they’ve built the past 2-3 years.

*** Here is the news; I’ll have much more later today on Bowen’s departure. The bottom line: This is a big blow to San Jose State, but it could have been much worse. It could have happened a year or two ago.

San Jose State moved swiftly Monday to fill the void left by athletic director Tom Bowen, who accepted a similar post at Memphis.

SJSU president Mohammad Qayoumi named Marie Tuite as interim athletic director. She has been the Spartans’ deputy director and chief operating officer for the past two years.

Each time I’ve seen the Spartans this spring, he has been the best quarterback on the roster. That doesn’t mean he’ll start the opener, but I’d be fairly surprised if that Dasmen Stewart or Blake Jurich is under center at Stanford (barring injury, of course).

*** My sense is that SJSU will learn whether it’s headed to the Mountain West in early May. If I were betting on the outcome, I’d lay a quarter (nothing more) that the Spartans are invited to the MWC.

*** As you’ll see below, athletic director Tom Bowen is a finalist for the Memphis job. Needless to say, that would be a gigantic loss for SJSU.

To the story …

San Jose State’s Spring Game on Friday was a lot like its regular-season games last fall: close and exciting, if not always well-played.

*** An early version of my story for Saturday’s Mercury News is below. In a nutshell: SJSU is moving forward with plans to build a 60,000-square foot football complex that will include The Bill Walsh Center: Institute for the Development of Human Potential. Construction is expected to start next winter.

Rendering courtesy of SJSU athletics

The Walsh family has thrown its full support behind the project.

The story /// …

The San Jose State athletic department is planning to build a massive football complex that will include a facility named in honor of its most famous alumnus.

The Bill Walsh Center will be the spiritual and intellectual heart of the 60,000-square foot complex rising above the north end zone of Spartan Stadium. A football operations center is also planned.

With an estimated cost of $9-14 million, the two-building project is expected to begin next winter and completed by the start of the 2013 football season.

Action: BCS officials meet in New Orleans and discuss dozens of options for the next cycle of games (2014 season) while NCAA president Mark Emmert supports four-team playoff (i.e., the “Plus-1″ model).Reaction I: The Hotline isn’t going to delve into the merits of an 8/16-team playoff because it’s Not. Going. To. Happen.Reaction II: A Plus-1 system would be fantastic: Add a fifth game — probably at Jerry Jones’ stadium — and have two of the five bowls serve as 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 semifinals, with each hosting the title game on a rotating basis. The key is that you have to add that fifth game to maintain 10 big-money slots.Reaction III: I’m far more interested in any changes to rules governing access, in particular whether the BCS honchos will eliminate the AQs and the two-teams-per-conference maximum. Such a move would greatly benefit the SEC and Big Ten and make it even tougher for the Pac-12 to grab at-large berths without Rule of 3/4 protection.

That means the Mountain West is definitely losing two football programs (SDSU and BSU) … which means the MWC most likely will be looking to add two … which means San Jose State and Utah State could be on their way to the MWC.

Here’s the early version of a story I wrote for Tuesday’s Merc about San Jose State’s behind-the-scenes effort to overcome severe APR penalties that spanned the 2006-09 seasons (and 2010, as well, since the Spartans couldn’t get to 85 scholarship players until this year) …

Off the field, the San Jose State football program has never been healthier. The Spartans are on sound footing financially and performing well in the classroom. For the first time in school history, they will have a full complement of 85 scholarship players this season.

It’s a far cry from the situation a few years ago, when a woeful academic performance threatened the program’s very existence.

A series of dismal Academic Progress Rate scores resulted in the loss of dozens of scholarships over a four-year period and pushed the Spartans to the brink of a bowl ban that could have permanently crippled the program.

Action: College football preseason “watch” lists released.Reaction I: Only one Pac-12 defensive lineman (Washington’s Alameda Ta’amu) was included on the 87-man list for the Nagurski Trophy, given to the nation’s top defensive player list, and only one (Ta’amu) was on the 65-man list for the Outland, given to the top interior lineman.Reaction II: Meanwhile, the conference had four quarterbacks on the 66-man list for the Maxwell, given to the nation’s top player … seven of the 75 receivers listed for the Biletnikoff … and five of the 34 tight ends listed for the Mackey.Reaction III: When it comes to Pac-12 games this season, bet the over.